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July 4
1800s *1881 - Mickey Welch pitched two complete game victories as the Troy Haymakers sweept a doubleheader from the host Buffalo Bisons 8–3 and 12–0. *1884 - In American Association action, Guy Hecker of the Louisville Colonels pitched complete games to win both ends of a doubleheader. Hecker did not walk a single batter as he beat the Brooklyn Atlantics, 5–4 and 8–2. 1900s *1900 - Approximately one thousand people in the crowd of 10,000 fans attending the game at West Side Park celebrated Independence Day by firing pistols into the air. In 12 innings, the host Chicago Orphans beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5– 4. *1905 - The Philadelphia Athletics scored two runs in the 20th inning, giving Rube Waddell a 4–2 victory over Cy Young and the Boston Red Sox. Both pitchers went the distance without issuing a base-on-balls. *1908 - Hooks Wiltse of the New York Giants pitched a 10-inning, 1–0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies. 1910s *1911: **Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox stopped Ty Cobb's 40-game hitting streak, as Chicago beat the Detroit Tigers, 7–3. Though neither Detroit paper mentions the streak, Cobb had hit .491 since the string started on May 15. **Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida became the first Cuban natives to appear in a major league game as they both made their debuts for the Cincinnati Reds. *1912 - George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers celebrated his 32nd birthday by pitching a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. *1916 - Shoeless Joe Jackson went 3-for-5 against the Philadelphia Athletics. In 30 games since May 31, Jackson hit 55-for-104, for a .524 batting average. 1920s *1925 - Herb Pennock of the New York Yankees and Lefty Grove of the Philadelphia Athletics, two of the great left-handers in the game, squared off in a duel in which New York won 1–0 in 15 innings. Pennock gave up four hits and walked none as he retired the final 21 batters he faced. *1928 - Ray Schalk resigned as Chicago White Sox manager and was replaced by Lena Blackburne. Blackburne will last one year and in 1930 will start selling his eponymous rubbing mud from the Delaware River to the American League to remove the slippery finish of baseballs. The National League will adopt it in the 1950s. 1930s *1938 - The Philadelphia Phillies moved to Shibe Park by splitting a twin bill with the Boston Bees, losing the first game, 10–5, and winning the nightcap, 10–2. Problems with Baker Bowl made it necessary for the Phillies to share the Athletics' home field at 21st Street and Lehigh Avenue. *1939: **The New York Yankees retired the uniform number 4 of future Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig in emotional ceremonies at Yankee Stadium. For over 40 minutes, current and former Yankee greats attended to honor Gehrig, including Babe Ruth, Waite Hoyt, Tony Lazzeri and Bob Meusel. Yankees manager Joe McCarthy presented Gehrig with a special silver trophy. Gehrig, in one of the most memorable speeches in baseball history, told the 61,808 in attendance at the Stadium, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Gehrig will die from the muscular disease in 1941. **Jim Tabor of the Boston Red Sox hit three home runs, including two grand slams, in an 18–12 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. 1940s *1948 - At Fenway Park, Ted Williams faced three pitchers in the seventh inning, a first in American League history, as the Boston Red Sox broke a 5–5 tie by scoring 14 runs on 14 RBI to beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 20–8. Williams faced Carl Scheib, Charlie Harris and Bill McCahan. Harris retired just one of 14 batters and gave up 12 runs, before McCahan took over. Williams and Bobby Doerr tied records by drawing two walks apiece and pitcher Ellis Kinder had two hits. The 14 runs in one inning became a record, but five years later the Red Sox will do even better with 17 in one inning. 1950s *1954 - Cleveland Indians pitchers Mike Garcia, Ray Narleski, and Early Wynn combined to beat the Chicago White Sox, 2–1, only allowing a ninth-inning single to Minnie Miñoso. 1960s *1960 - Mickey Mantle hit the 300th home run of his career, a three-run first-inning blast off Hal Woodeshick. Mantle became the 18th player to join the 300 HR-club, but the Yankees dropped a 9–8 decision to the Washington Senators. 1970s *1976 - Tim McCarver of the Philadelphia Phillies lost a grand slam when he passed Garry Maddox on the basepaths. Philladelphia still beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10–5, at Three Rivers Stadium. 1980s *1980: **Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros collected his 3,000th career strikeout during an 8–1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Ryan stroke out César Gerónimo, becoming the fourth major league pitcher to reach the milestone. **Reggie Smith hit the 7,000th home run in Dodgers franchise history and Don Sutton set a team record with his 52nd career shutout in a 4–0 victory over the Giants. *1982 - Celebrating Independence Day at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado, 65,666 fans watched an American Association contest and enjoyed a giant fireworks display after game. The gathering is reported as the largest crowd in minor league history. *1983 - Dave Righetti of the New York Yankees pitched a 4–0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. *1984: **Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees struck out five Texas Rangers batters to become the ninth pitcher to pass the 3,000 strikeout plateau. His victim No. 3,000 was Larry Parrish. **At County Stadium, the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 16–13 in 19 innings. The game lasted until just before 4 a.m. on July 5, and was followed by a fireworks display for the 10,000 fans left. The Braves tied the score 13-13 on a home run by pitcher Rick Camp in the 18th inning. *1988 - The Kansas City Royals released closer Dan Quisenberry, who collected 238 saves for the franchise. He will sign with St. Louis next week. *1989 - Tom Browning of the Cincinnati Reds was three outs away from his second career perfect game when Dickie Thon hit a double in the ninth inning. Browning was eventually relieved by John Franco in a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. 1990s *1999: **The Kansas City Royals defeated the Cleveland Indians, 10–9, as Royals catcher Mike Sweeney tied an American League record by recording an RBI in his 13th straight game. Taffy Wright of the Chicago White Sox set the mark in 1941. The major league standard is 17 games, set by Oscar Grimes of the Chicago Cubs in 1922. **Toronto beatTampa Bay, 6–3, despite José Canseco's 30th home run of the season. Canseco became the first player in major league history to reach the 30 mark with four different teams, having previously done so with Oakland, Texas, and Toronto. Pat Hentgen wion his 100th career game and Shawn Green hit his 100th home run. 2000s *2000 - Keith McDonald of the St. Louis Cardinals hit a home run in his first major league at-bat, helping St. Louis defeat Cincinnati 14–3. McDonald will hit a home run in his second at-bat two days later, becoming only the second player in major league history to hit homers in each of his first two big league at bats. Bob Nieman, in 1951, is the other. *2001: **The Milwaukee Brewers new home, Miller Park, continued to be jinxed as a parachutist broke his ankle when he missed the opening in the retractable roof and landed on a beam several hundred feet off the ground. Another member of the Sky Knights Sports Parachute Club missed the stadium completely. **The fifty people stranded on the ferris wheel ride at Comerica Park for two hours during the Royals-Tigers game were rescued by firefighters and emergency crews using a cherry picker and a fire truck ladder. The inconvenience fans will receive tickets to another game, free dinner and team autographs from the Tigers. *2003 - At Yankee Stadium, the Boston Red Sox scored all their runs by hitting a record seven home runs in a 10–3 victory over the New York Yankees. Manny Ramírez, David Ortiz (2), Bill Mueller (2) and Jason Varitek (2) provided the long ball. Prior to today Independence Day fireworks, the Yankees had given up just six homers in a game four times, including twice to Boston (1977 and 1997). *2004 - The selection of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Sammy Sosa as starters in the National League All-Stars line-up marked the first time in major league history which three players with 500 career home runs have appeared on the same team. The trio will appear in the starting outfield in the 75th All-Star Game to be played at Minute Maid Park. Births *1859 - Mickey Welch, Hall of Fame pitcher (d. 1941) *1861 - Louie Heilbroner, manager (d. 1933) *1880 - George Mullin, pitcher (d. 1944) *1884 - Jack Warhop, pitcher (d. 1960) *1929 - Chuck Tanner, player and manager *1929 - Babe Birrer, pitcher *1929 - Bill Tuttle, outfielder (d. 1998) *1942 - Hal Lanier, player and manager *1948 - Ed Armbrister, outfielder *1954 - Jim Beattie, pitcher *1963 - José Oquendo, infielder *1967 - Vinny Castilla, All-Star infielder *1971 - Brendan Donnelly, All-Star pitcher *1974 - Jeff Harris, pitcher Deaths *1938 - Chief Roseman, outfielder (b. 1856) *1947 - Ed Sweeney, catcher (b. 1888) *1960 - Frank Parkinson, infielder (b. 1895)